Top 100 Employment Branding Report: New Trends for 2015

WilsonHCG recently released the annual Fortune 500 Top 100 Employment Brands Report for 2015. And so we ask the burning question, ‘what’s new in the employment branding arena for 2015?’ In this blog, we look to highlight the differences in findings for this year compared to last year, identifying three key takeaways and providing insight into how the top players are managing their market presence. This will lend insight so you can apply these principles to your own employment branding efforts.

Learn more about the differences from last year's report in this year's Fortune 500 Top 100 Employment Brands [Report].

Johnson & Johnson steals the show

Johnson & Johnson (J&J) improved on their 2014 score by 22 points, taking their total employment branding score up to a massive 79 points, and allowing them to steal the top spot from the mighty Google. But how did they achieve this incredible feat?

Alongside its careers site, which is packed full of engaging and informative video content that showcases its commitment to diversity and CSR, J&J have established an impressive careers blog. Here’s how they describe the purpose of this blog:

“Everyone else is talking about our company, so why can’t we? There are approximately 128,000 people who work for Johnson & Johnson and its operating companies around the world. This blog is an opportunity for us to find a voice — and start some conversations, give our perspective and share some stories — that often get lost in formal communications about the work we do and the things we value.”

I really couldn’t have put it any better myself. J&J keep the blog regularly updated with interactive content, covering topics including leadership, company culture, values, diversity and product news, in a way that is both compelling and authentic. The blog makes great use of imagery and video, and it is linked to numerous, careers-specific social media platforms – all of which are posted to frequently with content relevant to the company's audience. If you’ve already established a solid employment branding foundation, then this is a really fantastic example of how you can use employee-generated content for both consumer and recruitment marketing purposes, and how you can create a talent community where two-way conversations between recruiters and potential candidates can happen naturally. Check out J&J here.

United Continental Holdings make the biggest improvement

United Continental made huge employment branding strides in 2015, achieving a highly respectable total of 58 points in 2015. Organisations that are just starting out in building and implementing a new employment branding strategy might want to take note of how United Continental have succeeded in improving its score in only one year.

United Continental take pride in displaying its achievements on its career site, and so it has placed a recent equality award on its careers page. The company has been sure to make use of imagery and video on its careers page, and it's made it easy to search for jobs, writing engaging job descriptions for every requisition. United Continental's Glassdoor page has more than 1,100 employee testimonials, reviews from candidates that describe 600 individual interview processes, and includes company culture photos that showcase what it’s like to work for the organisation. Glassdoor reviews come across as more authentic to potential candidates as they are written by real, anonymous employees who are not under any obligations to share only positive feedback.

Overall, if you’re just starting out in drawing out your employment branding strategy, look to United Continental for inspiration. It's made use of a number of low-cost initiatives that have really made a noticeable difference to its employer branding presence.

Salesforce.com is ‘one to watch’ for 2016

Salesforce have created its #dreamjob campaign which it has implemented across its career site and all its social media platforms. The campaign is bright and fun, and the language and messaging used across its employment collateral is quite casual, allowing it to stand out from amongst the crowd. Along with the use of video and imagery to exemplify the company culture, Salesforce also use a number of bold infographics to highlight employee benefits and reasons to work there.

If you’re looking to innovate in your employment branding campaigns for next year, you might want to look to Salesforce for inspiration. Scoring 65 points in 2015, Salesforce is highlighted in this year’s employment branding report as a ‘party crasher’, as it is transforming the employment branding space by successfully borrowing concepts from both traditional and digital marketing to push its recruitment messaging out to candidates.

If you haven’t already had a chance to check out WilsonHCG’s 2015 Fortune 500 Top 100 Employment Brands Report, then click here for the report, which includes the full list as well as industry insights and takeaways that you can also use to improve your employment branding strategy.